notglitching: (red - step away from the window)
Rinzler / Tron ([personal profile] notglitching) wrote in [community profile] thisavrou_log2017-02-08 09:24 am

It's hard to say I'd rather stay awake

Who: Rinzler and OPEN
When: February! (Pick a day, any day.)
Where: Mostly Kauto, but a little bit all over.
What: Catch-all for CR shenanigans this month.
Warnings: Possible violence, probable mentions of mindscrew, murder, etc. See also: basic Rinzlerness; nothing awful planned.


A. Shiny Object Detection - OPEN

The last system had crashed. Gone down in a ball of faults and failures, corruption wreaked by the virus that two different sets of admins had kept running. The last system had died because its users were stupid. Because the ones supposed to keep it safe had refused to act. Refused to lead. This system, the savrii claim, has no leaders at all.

Rinzler's not expecting a better end.

He doesn't accept one of their functions. He doesn't agree to any of their rules. No one seems to notice, but when is that surprising? (He doesn't speak.) (Users don't listen.) Instead, the program keeps moving. Scanning. Looking for the threats. This isn't his system, but his admin is here, and no matter the recent complications, Rinzler knows he has to keep Clu safe. In a system so large and so poorly defended, that makes it his task to assess the threats.

All of them. He starts on Kauto, observing the streets and cityscape one rooftop at a time, memorizing layouts and backpaths. The plant-infested regions make for more reluctant visits, but Rinzler performs a few scouting runs—sometimes on foot, sometimes by lightjet. Those wandering the Ingress Complex might pass an orange-glowing figure in the halls... or hear his odd, ticking rumble coming from the walls or ceiling. If the Moira taught him anything, it was that vents are an access route worth mapping.

On Chioni, encounters are likely to be much more brief—the program staggers to a halt just a few paces outside of his transporter, and takes considerable effort getting back inside it. The heat is crippling enough to swamp his systems with a flood of errors, and Rinzler reluctantly postpones further exploration of that zone for later.


B. Creeping means Friendship, right? - CLOSED to positive CR

Rinzler was made to serve Clu. His administrator is the one he's written to obey, the single being Rinzler cannot fail, at all costs. But as faulty as it makes him, as much of his code broke badly in the process... Clu's not the only person here who the enforcer's looking to keep safe. Alan-one is housed in the same district. The betas he'd been training are a short flight away on the same world. Allies, contacts, known factors all scattering amidst some very unknown hazards.

Besides, when he's exploring anyway... it's not too much effort to check in.

Rinzler can be found on nearly any street or rooftop. But the ones he lingers on tend to be near the residences of newcomers—and a certain subset in particular. Allies, friends closer allies, and positive contacts might spot a red-orange glow in the nighttime, or a dark-armored silhouette lurking nearby during the day. Rinzler's not putting out much effort to hide, even if he's unlikely to knock on your door. Socializing, after all, isn't part of his function.

Stalking is.


C. Home Sweet Stuff-Dropping-Off Place - OPEN

As little time as he spends there, Rinzler has a residence as well: a set of rooms high up in one of the skyscrapers of Kauto's business district. It offers a nice view of the cityscape below, a balcony for flipping, jumping, or launching off, and proximity to his admin down the hall. Most of the time, anyone knocking will be out of luck—Rinzler's more likely to be scouting, creeping, or picking a fight elsewhere than sitting at home.

But maybe you got lucky. (Unlucky?) The touch pad still responds with flat, unwelcoming silence, but after a few seconds, the door slides open, revealing a murder-program and his signature headtilt. A glance past will show dim, diffuse lighting against bare walls... and floors... and rooms. Furnishing is for people who have nothing better to do.

Or who have any idea how to go about it.


D. Electronics and Water! - 20th; OPEN

Rinzler was designed to work well past normal tolerances. He can survive with less power, run for longer, do more. He can wait for decicycles on end to receive input or command. Sometimes it feels like most of his runtime has been waiting: to be called, to be tasked, following at Clu's heels or sitting in his cell. And if the year aboard the Moira had been much more exciting, full of threats and challenges and a job-function that always let him serve a use... that doesn't matter.

Rinzler is definitely not bored.

He's just carrying out options slightly lower on his tasklist. As often as they've encountered water on their journey so far, learning to navigate inside it is an undeniably sensible precaution. Still, in the group of people showing up for Region Four's free swimming lessons? The growling, glowing masked-and-armored figure stands out oddly.

For the most part, he sticks to the outskirts of the group, treating the instructor to a helmeted glower as they come by to check that everyone's aware of the basic methods used to hold breath. Once they leave, he'll cautiously approach the fluid. One circuit-lined hand submerges briefly, brightening and dimming as it enters the saltwater. A little drain... but well within tolerance. He can do this.


E. Wildcard!

Exploring through the Ingress? So is Rinzler! Trying to murder local wildlife? Sounds like fun! Looking for shit to steal? He isn't, but he'll certainly be interested if you target his belongings. Whatever you want goes here.


[[ooc: Spam or prose freely; I'll match!]]
swarm_embrace: (pic#9635134)

Early in the month - chance encounter

[personal profile] swarm_embrace 2017-02-08 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Rinzler was among the more interesting people brought here by the Ingress. He'd demonstrated himself to be a capable combatant, even if Kerrigan had only seen him when she was limited by lack of abilities. It was entirely possible he'd been likewise limited, their last encounter hadn't been enough for her to tell either way. But she had remembered his reaction to the destroyed computers on the midway hub.

That was why when she'd come across something, tossed aside and cracked, displaying nothing but error messages, Kerrigan hadn't immediately scrapped it. The Pac-disks had enough storage that carrying an extra object around wasn't a problem, so she'd put it aside. But now she saw the familiar dark and orange-lit figure, so she approached him. Time to hand this off so he could get it to someone who could fix the thing.

"Rinzler."
handofrapture: ([red] attack)

d. cue the 'jaws' theme

[personal profile] handofrapture 2017-02-08 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[Of all the people who could possibly need anything even remotely resembling swimming lessons, the Big Sister is probably very, very low on the list. She’s spent her entire life underwater, and swimming through ocean depths that would collapse most people’s ribcages in seconds is as mundane for her as walking down the street would be for most land-dwellers.

Honestly, she’s mostly here for entertainment. Watching a bunch of clueless mostly-adults flail uselessly around in the water is at least something she doesn’t see everyday in Rapture. Maybe she’ll even get to see someone drown? That could be amusing.

She stays out of sight for the most part, watching the proceedings from well beneath the waves. The swimmers-in-training are just beginning to enter the water fully when a flicker of light catches the Big Sister’s attention, in an all-too-familiar shade of red.

She twists around in the water to get a better look. There’s no mistaking it – a black and glowing red shape leans over the edge of the water, a single hand extending past the waves. The Big Sister feels her own aggression rising instinctively at the sight. Even blurred by the water’s surface, it’s still clearly the same manner of creature as the one she encountered in the cave – perhaps it’s even the same one. And it’s still lit a clear and angry red.

And yet… it doesn’t seem to have seen her yet. Neither has it made any move to attack any of the nearby swimmers, helpless as they are bobbing there in the water. Perhaps–

Oh. Oh, this is too good. It can’t swim, can it? That would explain why it hasn’t even entered the water yet, why it’s crouching there stupidly even as it’s literally glowing with malevolent intent. If only it would get in the water, perhaps it could do something with all that pent-up hostility. Perhaps the Big Sister can help…

In a matter of seconds, Rinzler will feel something seize hold of the hand he’s holding in the water and yank him forward, with every intent of pulling him under.]
swarm_embrace: (pic#9635134)

That works!

[personal profile] swarm_embrace 2017-02-09 11:54 am (UTC)(link)
Kerrigan approached him, the work of a moment to pull the device she'd come across out. It wasn't durable, but the size of it mades it easy enough not to scratch with her claws while she held it out. The dark case is cracked and scuffed, but the small screen was in one piece and there are still faint blinking lights visible on the side.

"I found this. It doesn't work, but it's not beyond repair."

A peace offering. She didn't care about the damn thing, but the destruction of electronics was obviously a very sore topic for Rinzler. It might have even been something useful underneath all the error messages that scroll across the screen when she tried to use it.

It could be his problem now, since he was the one who cared.
swarm_embrace: (pic#9635141)

[personal profile] swarm_embrace 2017-02-09 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
After a few moments of holding the device out, during which Rinzler clearly took it the wrong way, Kerrigan bit back the irritated response she wanted to make. But not the expression of annoyance at his failure to comprehend this. That made its way onto her face as he pointedly moved his head and then tilted it to the side.

So she opened a connection between them. It was easier this time.

"Take it."
>"Take it."

She spoke out loud at the same time she sent the command across the connection, the difference in speed between spoken word and thought making one a strange echo of the other. The connection was more so he could do something other than tilt his head in varying degrees in different directions to communicate.
Edited 2017-02-09 18:26 (UTC)
handofrapture: ([red] glare)

SO IS SHE

[personal profile] handofrapture 2017-02-09 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[There’s a satisfying splash as the creature hits the water, and the Big Sister can’t help but laugh at the way it scrambles for its weapon as if they’re still on land. A single kick of her legs already puts enough distance between them that the slow arc easily misses her – and if her boot connects with the creature’s chest in the process, so much the better. The forward stroke ends with a graceful swivel as she inverts, the red faceplate of her helmet now regarding the creature upside-down as she hangs there nearly motionless, giving the creature a chance to catch up.

If it can manage.]
swarm_embrace: (pic#9635139)

[personal profile] swarm_embrace 2017-02-09 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
>"To fix it, or hold onto it. Either way, it's your problem now."

Unless he didn't care about it. But the confusion across the connection was real. He really didn't understand why she was handing it to him. There was a tinge of impatience and irritation making its way across the connection, a subtle broadcasting of her emotions. Kerrigan was doing something considerate, he could at least understand the gesture she was making here.

The kind of anger he displayed before, back on the mid-way hub, that was an emotion she understood well. She didn't want to be the person who invoked that emotion in others, not more than she already was. Not when she had the free will to choose her actions on her own, and no need to slaughter everyone for the sake of her own survival.
swarm_embrace: (pic#9635140)

[personal profile] swarm_embrace 2017-02-09 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Kerrigan stared blankly at him for his startled reaction. That made no sense to her, but there was clearly some context here she was missing. He cared about damaged computers being smashed, but when offered a machine to see to, he refused.

>"What does that have to do with it?"

Despite the fact that 'user' in that context was strange. Maybe he had some kind of taboo about machines? This was turning into more of a headache than she'd expected it to be.
Edited 2017-02-09 20:25 (UTC)
handofrapture: ([red] take a bow)

*bows*

[personal profile] handofrapture 2017-02-10 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
[The Big Sister merely hangs in place, watching with unrestrained mirth as the creature tries uselessly to close the distance between them. It really does seem to think they’re still on land and the sight of it slowly sinking as it tries to lunge towards her is enough to make her whole frame shake with laughter.

She lets it sink without intervening for a good few seconds – given how confused it seems by the very concept of swimming, she isn’t even sure it’ll be able to make it back to the surface on his own. But eventually, she deigns to give it a bit of encouragement, kicking a little closer. She’s floating above it now, the red circle of her faceplate pointed downwards like a red lamp, just out of reach. Swimming upward will likely be even more of a challenge than swimming forward – something she looks forward to watching the creature realize on its own.]
handofrapture: ([red] aggro'd)

[personal profile] handofrapture 2017-02-10 03:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[The creature does seem to figure out that it needs to use both legs to stop its descent, though afterwards it reaches dumbly for yet another weapon. She recognizes it from their fight in the cave, a short blunt stick it had used to parry her needles. Why it thinks such a weapon would be of use now of all times is beyond her.

She watches in amusement as the creature points it at her. Is this supposed to be a threat? It’s not all that intimidating when it still can’t even reach her, much less deliver a solid blow.

And then it begins to glow.

The Big Sister ducks her helmet as something shoots out of the weapon, startled. Whatever it shot at her misses her head by a large margin – but a heavy thunk of connection tells her it’s hit her oxygen tank instead. Her gaze snaps over her shoulder, half-expecting to see a stream of bubbles from the pierced tank. But there is no puncture. Just a small, claw-like clasp wrapped tightly around the tank’s valve.

The Big Sister’s laughter quickly turns to an angry snarl as she realizes what the creature is doing. She can already feel the device dragging them closer together – but if this is going to be a fight, it’s going to be as far in her domain as she can manage.

She kicks forward without hesitation, aiming to swim past the creature at full speed. She’s far more prepared for deep sea conditions than it is. If anyone is going to drag them down, it’s going to be her.]

swarm_embrace: (pic#9635134)

[personal profile] swarm_embrace 2017-02-10 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
The surge of emotions that brought was not anything Kerrigan expected. It was becoming increasingly clear that Rinzler had all kinds of issues, and she had to wonder at the circumstances that made him this way. What awful things could happen to a machine like him to make him so prone to sudden emotional responses like this? It made patience a little easier to find, even as she clenched her jaw at the thoughts that were brought to mind.

It wasn't her place to go prying into Rinzler's past, and she wouldn't appreciate anyone digging up her own painful memories. That mix of bitterness, fear, loathing, and shame was almost familiar to her. It made the tendrils on her head flex and she shifted the limbs on her back uneasily over the emotional feedback the feelings caused in her.

>"Neither do I. But you can take it to someone who can."

Kerrigan wouldn't know who to go to, and she wasn't about to go digging and asking favors just because of one AI's trauma when it came to damaged electronics.
warandpeace: (Becαυѕe I coмe ғroм тнe lαɴd oғ pleɴтy)

[personal profile] warandpeace 2017-02-10 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
B. Creeping means Friendship, right?.

Miller hasn't been expecting better, either.

But what he has been expecting of himself as changed. All of this time, the whole journey, he put up with bad leadership and poor decision making for one end goal, one purpose; he wanted to correct the future he discovered he had contributed to breaking.

He'd wanted to build something people could come together over. Sure, make a profit, too? But profits were for him, for the guarantee he'd never be destitute again. But his dream had a purpose. It was to give men like him a place in the world. Instead it turned into a lifestyle of death, a convention of business he never wanted to become a standard facet of capitalism. His business gave birth to many more that destroyed the fabric of society. And that is what led Kazuhira Miller to endure the entirety of that trip, loss after loss and heart-wrenching good-bye so that he might reach that one simple goal. To make a better planet out of the one he fucked up.

Now he was having to consider the greater universe.

Kaz didn't trust the Savrii either. It was easy to hide filthy intentions behind walls of typical civilization, rings lined with rot under vibrant bark. His world was a version of that. So what were these? To keep their special snowflake of a barely controlled living beheamoth controlled, they had murdered a lab full of scientists whose only crime was being ignorant of what they found. The greater population could very well not know the circumstances surrounding the device that gave their homes life.

Either way, now Kaz was more concerned with the idea that the greater universe could possibly be at stake, and he was a little more interested in that (barely) than restarting his life at home.

He didn't see Rinzler at first because Rinzler had a knack for stealth. He was walking the street of Kauto region one, repeatedly checking a map as he looked at locations possibly good enough to build a business. He credited that lingering feeling of being watched to his constant paranoia, but did stop to glance around him with the suspicion someone might be watching him. It was hard to tell, he didn't know this place, and laws or not fresh meat in a new place was fresh meat.

It's not until he looks up and behind his glasses? Incredulity. Like a man who just discovered his cat perched on the bedroom door.
warandpeace: (αɴd тнιɴɢѕ woɴт ever cнαɴɢe)

[personal profile] warandpeace 2017-02-13 12:45 pm (UTC)(link)
He looked at his surroundings, and back up at Rinzler, with the distinct lack of ability to parkour up to where he was currently located.

"Do you want to help me investigate the area?" he asked up, hoping for something better than they had. That odd sort of discomfort that came from two men that were always hyper-aware of threats, though branching from very different sources of influence. They weren't crew anymore. There was no need for cooperation, but while he was dubious as to whether a program was any sort of social being at its core, unfortunately humans were. And Miller had made the mistake of getting close to people again.

Whether or not Rinzler accepted the invitation (or stayed up there to do his end of examining their surroundings) he made room for him on the sidewalk, walking with his hands tucked into the pockets of his overnice suit pockets. Too dressy for casual wear, but he'd not worn much outside of his uniforms in quite a while.
warandpeace: (Coυld ɴever cαυѕe мe pαιɴ)

[personal profile] warandpeace 2017-02-16 09:05 am (UTC)(link)
None. [He says aloud as he looks at his TAB. Easy enough to reply as he reads.]

I think they're there, but I've not been able to observe them, no. [Which means he could inadvertently create another self-fulfilling prophecy. Paranoia creating threats between the people feeling it. But he can't shake the feeling this place is being manipulated. Maybe not every Savrii is in on it, but he doesn't trust the people in charge at all.]

What about you? Outside of known aggressive members of the crew.

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